Mexican promoter sues Fire

February 03, 2009|By Luis Arroyave, Tribune reporter

The company that promoted the Fire's preseason tour of Mexico in 2008 is suing the MLS club for breach of contract.

Gustavo Parente, president of the Mexico-based Administradora de Proyectos Neomed, a business that sponsors and promotes soccer matches, claims the Fire broke its agreement when it failed to play the third match of a three-game tour.

Parente filed the lawsuit last Thursday in the Northern District of Illinois.

After playing the first exhibition in Culican on Feb. 27 and the second in Aguascalientes on March 4, the Fire canceled the game in Mexicali on March 11 because of what it felt were poor field conditions at Estadio Casas Geo.

The Fire rescheduled for April 8 but later canceled the exhibition.

According to the lawsuit, the Fire told APN it was canceling the rescheduled match so the Fire could concentrate on the MLS season. APN claims it had already paid for airline tickets and hotel reservations in advance.

The lawsuit alleges the Fire "failed to comply with the agreement when it refused to play the soccer match" and stated that "APN has been damaged in an amount in excess of $500,000, to be determined at trial."

The complaint also states "APN has been and will be held liable for damages to third parties" due to the alleged breach of contract.

"We believe this lawsuit to be frivolous and completely without merit," Fire spokeswoman Kelly Mullens said in a statement. "Once the real facts are revealed, we fully expect to prevail in winning this case."

Attempts to reach Parente's Chicago-based lawyer were unsuccessful.

The Fire is expected to train in Mexico during the current preseason. Dates and opponents have yet to be announced.

*Fifteen years after staging the most successful World Cup in history, the United States is bidding to once again bring the world's biggest single-sport event to these shores. On Monday, the U.S. officially became a candidate to host international soccer's showpiece tournament in either 2018 or 2022.

It is believed that England is favored for 2018 and the U.S. for 2022.